Submarine cables and pipelines are vitally important for energy supply, global communications and economic activity. But several recent high-profile incidents have exposed their vulnerability to deliberate damage from state and non-state actors. In April 2021, Norway reported that several kilometres of its fibreoptic cables disappeared from the Svalbard archipelago, leaving Norway unable to monitor submarine activity in the region. These cables formed part of an extensive network of high-tech cables and sensors used for scientific research and maritime surveillance. Better known, on 26 September 2022, a series of explosions damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which were built to transport gas from Russia to Germany. While suspicions initially fell on Russia, Dutch intelligence suggest that the explosion was caused by experienced divers belonging to a ‘pro-Ukrainian group’.
Security Council
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Really Binding? Security Council Resolution 2728 (2024) and Non-State Actors
There has been controversy, including on this blog, over whether the UN Security Council resolution 2728 (2024) on the Palestinian question is legally binding or not. It seems to me that while Eran Sthoeger places much emphasis on whether the Council resolution can be traced back to Chapter VII, Eirik Bjorge regards the use of…
The strange story of the “conditional” admission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations
On 10 May 2024, the General Assembly (GA) adopted by an overwhelming majority Resolution ES-10/23 on the admission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations. The resolution does not pronounce the admission. After determining in point 1 of the operative part that the State of Palestine meets the requirements for admission under Article 4(1) of the…
Resolution 2728 (2024) is a Binding Council Resolution
Resolution 2728 (2024) has legally binding effect. Eran Sthoeger makes the claim that the Security Council’s resolution 2728, which demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, is “not legally binding”. This conclusion, he asseverates, follows from “a sound understanding of the practice of the Security Council under the Charter”. The true position is that the…
Resolution 2728 on Israel/Gaza is Significant, But it Is Not a Binding Council Decision
Resolution 2728 on the situation in Gaza is not legally binding. This conclusion is not counterintuitive or surprising. Rather it is the result of a sound understanding of the practice of the Security Council under the Charter. It also flows from the views of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as articulated in the Namibia and Kosovo Advisory…